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New Mexico budget crisis heads toward court

SANTA FE — New Mexico lawmakers have authorized plans to sue Republican Gov. Susana Martinez to block vetoes that would defund state universities and colleges along with the legislative branch of government in the coming fiscal year.

New Mexico budget crisis heads toward court

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is flanked by advocates as she talks about opioid and heroin overdoses in New Mexico during a bill signing ceremony at a substance abuse treatment center in Albuquerque, N.M., on Thursday, April 6, 2017. Among other things, the bill signed by Martinez requires all state and local law enforcement officers to be equipped with an overdose antidote kit.(Photo: Susan Montoya Bryan/AP)

SANTA FE — New Mexico lawmakers have authorized plans to sue Republican Gov. Susana Martinez to block vetoes that would defund state universities and colleges along with the legislative branch of government in the coming fiscal year.

The Legislative Council of leading state lawmakers directed attorneys Thursday to quickly pursue litigation on several fronts, including challenges to any vetoes that affect core functions of state government.

Legislative staff also initiated efforts to call an extraordinary session of the Legislature by collecting lawmakers' signatures, a move that could upstage the governor's plans for a special session on issues of her choice.

Senate President Mary Kay Papen of Las Cruces said lawmakers were turning to the judiciary to preserve a "strong system of checks and balances."

"The Legislative Council has made the decision to officially begin the legal process necessary to ensure the state constitution is upheld," she said in a statement.

It was unclear how litigation would affect fledgling negotiations to resolve the state's grinding state budget problems. Faltering state tax revenues are linked to a downturn in the oil sector, economic malaise and the nation's highest rate of unemployment.

Lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth held discussions late in the day inside the governor's office.

Face-to-face talks over New Mexico's state budget crisis between Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and two top Democratic lawmakers failed to produce an agreement.

Wirth said Thursday that the governor repeated ideas for solving a budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year that already have been roundly rejected by lawmakers. They include tapping more funds from school district reserves and reducing state pension contributions.

Wirth says he repeatedly asked Martinez for more details of tax reforms that she wants incorporated into a budget compromise but left without clear answers. The meeting included House Speaker Brian Egolf of Santa Fe.

Martinez spokesman Michael Lonergan says lawmakers continue to shirk responsibility and dig in their heels over the budget. Wirth says the governor's budget vetoes have created a constitutional crisis.

"The governor is optimistic that they can work together and find common ground to solve this budget crisis," said Chris Sanchez, a spokesman for Martinez, in an email.

New Mexico has struggled to stabilize funding to public schools, courts and other critical government services after depleting nearly all general fund reserves and making repeated cuts to agency spending and cash balances.

Martinez also vetoed a variety of tax and fee increases from the Democrat-led Legislature that would have raised $350 million to slightly bolster government spending, rebuild reserves and pay for road improvements. She has called the proposed tax increases on gasoline, vehicle sales and other transactions reckless and sought further government belt-tightening.

The second-term governor also has been urging lawmakers to support an ambitious tax-code overhaul designed to improve the state's business climate by eliminating hundreds of tax breaks, including long-standing exemptions for nonprofit organizations.

A more modest package of tax reforms that was vetoed would have created a new rainy-day fund to better insulate the state finances from economic gyrations, while phasing out a variety of tax incentives.

An extraordinary session requires signatures from three-fifths of lawmakers and would need some support from Republican House members who have so far vowed to block any attempts to override the governor's vetoes.

Plans to take Martinez to court and pursue litigation were discussed behind closed doors in an executive session of 14 members of the Legislative Council, a panel overseeing legislative affairs after the close of the regular 2017 legislative session in March. Approved motions were announced without vote tallies from lawmakers on the council.

Beyond budget issues, the Legislature laid plans to sue the governor over 10 vetoes during that included no initial explanatory message, saying it was denied any opportunity to address concerns through the legislative process.